The wet, windy weather aside, this has been a terrific two days in the northern Willamette Valley. You can expect a number of posts on where my travels took me and the experiences I had soon. In the meantime, here's a quick run down of the people met and places visited this weekend.

On Friday, I had a nice visit with Todd Hamina of Biggio Hamina as well as Dean and Ann Fisher of ADEA in Gaston. I then met up with Steve Lutz of Lenné Estate in Yamhill. Capping off the day, I had a wonderful dinner at Thistle in McMinnville, where Eric Bechard and Emily Howard have put together a delicious menu of locally-sourced food and wine.

On Saturday, I had the unexpected opportunity to meet Bernard Lacroute, founder of WillaKenzie Estate, who happened to be behind the tasting room bar during my visit. The photo above are cows on the estate. This was followed by a quick visit to Lemelson outside of Carlton.

I then spent the better part of the afternoon at Scott Paul, where Scott and Martha Wright hosted a tasting that featured their own wines alongside Kelley Fox with her new label as well as Brian O'Donnell of Belle Pente. Lunch at Farm to Fork was packed at mid-afternoon - after a delicious meal I can see why. A couple more stops at August Cellars and then Rex Hill weren't brief enough - more on that later.

Saturday's dinner event, "La Paulée de Carlton", was an exceptional evening with good food, delicious wines, and wonderful people. What a terrific capstone to yet another incredible weekend in the Willamette Valley. I can't wait to share what an enjoyable experience this event was, both at the winery and at dinner tonight (update: my coverage of the event has now been posted).

On both nights I stayed at The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, which has clearly set a new standard for accommodations in the Willamette Valley. I cannot wait to return to The Allison, in fact, I may just decide not to check out tomorrow. This place is going to change the valley, in a good way.